The Ecolink 700 Series Garage Door Controller is the first product to pass certification and include the Z-Wave Long Range specification.

The Z-Wave Alliance, the standards development organization dedicated to advancing the smart home and Z-Wave technology, has announced that Ecolink, a Universal Electronics security and home automation brand, is the first to complete Z-Wave Long Range (Z-Wave LR) certification, with the submission of the Ecolink 700 Series Garage Door Controller. Z-Wave LR ushers in a new era of Z-Wave connectivity and brings expanded options for the smart home, multi-dwelling units and hospitality use cases.

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Engineered to provide significantly extended wireless range and support robust networks, Z-Wave LR extends Z-Wave connectivity beyond the interior boundaries of the home to improve wireless transmission range of peripheral Z-Wave devices such as door locks, garage door sensors, gate access solutions, and more, while increasing scalability to over 4,000 nodes on a single smart home network. Core benefits of Z-Wave LR include increased coverage, increased scalability, optimized battery life, and of course, interoperability and backwards compatibility.

“When it comes to innovation, we are at the forefront of engineering our products to work harder and smarter,” said Mike Bailey, VP of product development and operations for Ecolink. “Any range increases we can introduce into our products, and thus to our customers, only works to enhance their overall experience with smart home and security solutions. It’s a win/win. Moving forward, our plan is for all Z-Wave sensors and devices we work to introduce and certify with the Z-Wave Alliance to include Z-Wave Long Range out of the box.”

“We would like to congratulate Ecolink for being the first to complete certification. The 700 Series Garage Door Controller is an ideal example of the type of device Z-Wave Long Range was designed to enhance,” said Mitchell Klein, executive director of the Z-Wave Alliance. “The certification of the first Z-Wave LR device is a milestone for the Alliance as a standards development organization. Developing this specification and making it available to members like Ecolink falls perfectly in line with our mission to advance the Z-Wave standard. Members who actively seek to build their products featuring this specification will undoubtedly have a competitive edge and we are eager to see more Z-Wave LR enter the market in the coming months.”

While the Ecolink 700 Series Garage Door Controller is the very first to achieve Z-Wave Long Range Certification, additional devices from across the vast Z-Wave Alliance membership are submitted and certified regularly. Additional announcements to come.

Residential Tech Today’s executive editor Jeremy Glowacki is an editorial veteran with more than 20 years of professional experience with numerous publications. In 2000, he helped create and launch Residential Systems, a business and technology magazine for the custom integration business. He served as day-to-day editor of that title and content director of the CEDIA Daily, Systems Contractor News, and several other B2B titles until joining Innovative Properties Worldwide in 2018. Jeremy was named a CEDIA Fellow in 2012.